Head of the Class: A LitRPG Adventure

by Tao Wong, Jason J. Willis

Standardized testing is so much worse in the apocalypse.

Caleb Hanson assumed the most exciting part of his field trip scouting in Northern Minnesota would be a rare bird sighting. Instead, he was abducted by hive-minded hexapods and forced to be their children’s teacher. Not the worst way to ride out the end of the world.

Two years later, the apocalypse has finally come for Caleb. His savior-captors are murdered, leaving him as the last line of defense for the alien kids he’s grown to know and love. Now, he’ll have to bend his values or watch his students die. All while dealing with untrustworthy allies, ravenous monsters, honorable bounty hunters, and worst of all - xenophobic militants.

Between idealism and practicality lies hope for the future. If he can find the strength to pass this final test.

Head of the Class is the first book in the System Liberty series and is set in the bestselling System Apocalypse universe. It is an Apocalyptic LitRPG series that combines science fiction and fantasy elements with game mechanics. This series contains level ups, experience, a snarky AI shield-bot Companion, monsters (both human and otherwise), and a larger than life cast of characters.

Genres: Fantasy

716 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 8, 2024

About the author

Tao Wong is the author of the A Thousand Li progression fantasy series and the System Apocalypse LitRPG series, among others. His work has been released in audio, paperback, hardcover, and ebook formats, and translated into German, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, and several other languages. He was shortlisted for the UK Kindle Storyteller Award in 2021 for A Thousand Li: The Second Sect. In 2026, the first three books in the A Thousand Li series will be republished in hardcover by Ace Books.

When he’s not writing or working, he enjoys practicing martial arts, reading, and dreaming up new worlds. He lives in Toronto, Canada.

Reviews

[Tao Wong]

Working on this series has been a blast. It's interesting taking a more epic fantasy / scifi look at an apocalyptic world, and putting a staunch pacifist in the middle of all this. Having the character deal with his emotions, with his beliefs and how he has to compromise - and make others compromise - is always fascinating.

As always, working with new authors in the System Apocalypse universe poses their own challenges. They come with questions that I'm not certain of, queries about what they can do that I've never thought about and, in their writing; are always pushing me to figure out how to improve myself.

None more so than the year 2 authors really like David and Jason, all of whom have their own visions; which might not be the 'traditional' apocalyptic angles for LitRPG but on the other hand, bring something new and fresh to the world.

I'm looking forward to seeing how people find book 2 just as much all of you.

Read the bonus scene for Head of the Class now: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/8zi1n2p906

[Van P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great pacing, suspensefully written... Tao Wong and Jason J. Willis weave a world of woeful wrongdoings and weapons, warfare, and wonder! The protagonist is compelling, and his encounters are exciting and thought-provoking. I highly recommend this novel as a MUST LitRPG read: it reminds you that life is dangerous and short, and must NOT be taken lightly!

[Mike Parsons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Builds to a great ending

Great progression of characters and compromises.
Stays true to the premise and finishes super strong - looking forward to book 2!

[Laura Stearns · Rating 5 out of 5]

Caleb and Pavice, his shield-bot companion, are fantastic characters and people I’d like to hang out with and also have on my team during an apocalypse. This book is filled with really great characters and the audiobook reader did a superb job (I’m super picky about my audiobook readers).
I especially loved how Aul, one of the aliens in Caleb’s class, speaks her hilarious, yoda-English and I just loved her character especially. I’m totally Team Caleb and would be signing up to fight with his misfit band of bad news bears having to fight against odds stacked high against them. Where do I sign?!
Even though it was my first litRPG book and not being a gamer myself, I was still able to follow along. I connected with the characters and was bummed when it ended. Can’t wait for book #2. Keep writing!

[Tony Fecteau · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not really resonate with Caleb (main character) in the beginning of the book. He was more of a needed character that all the other characters rotated around. I started to see Caleb as a proper person and his motivations started to make sense. A teacher class? Why not! Let's see what else can happen with his merry band.

[Nathan Blowers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though this book is not my favorite genre, I really enjoyed it. There are several lines that I enjoyed. I also like how humor was mixed in while the characters struggled. There are many times I felt excited during the suspenseful part of the story. The narrator did a great job bring the book to life.

[Marsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the premise of the book. The main character has to build alliances, skills and power to help him survive and the alien children in his care.
The book was fast paced and jumped to a few other POV tastefully to keep the reader apprised of a couple character arcs.

This book is worth picking up.

[Johnie C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read

I enjoyed reading this book and I recommend this book to anyone who likes LitRPG and progression types of books with lots of action.